He's a Fighter
by flipflop386
Summary: What if Gai was the one to find Neji after his battle with Kidomaru? Gai would be a worried mess, but he just has to keep telling himself that "Neji's a fighter". Summary sucks. Sorry.


**Hello everyone! It's me, flipflop386, again. This is just a something I whipped out because I felt super productive one day. I know this isn't how the Sasuke Retrieval Mission went according to the anime/manga, but it's fun to use our imagination. It's mostly about Neji (and Gai ), 'cause what else would I write about? Sorry if the introduction is a bit long, but I felt like I needed to give some background first.**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I love knowing what you have to say, and it takes you like an additional 30 seconds! What did you like? What did you hate? What would you like more of? What would be better? TELL ME. (Btdubbs… I review every fanfic that I manage to read all the way to the end) Anyway, on with the story.**

Blah- normal

_Blah_- thoughts

**Blah**- Author's Note (A/N)

**He's a Fighter**

"I know that it's only a 'C' ranked mission, but someone has to do it, and you two are the only ones not managing their full teams currently," Tsunade was suddenly hit by a wave of guilt from what she said to the two jounins, "even though it's only a minor setback." The jounins expressions remained impassive, but the Hokage could tell they were still a little distraught by her choice of words. "Anyway, will you accept this mission? It's really quite simple. Just find the genin, and escort them back home. I'm not sure what I was thinking, it was a suicide mission from the start, and I sent out GENIN!" Her head hit the mahogany desk with a sickening thud. She was clearly drunk.

"With all due respect Lady Tsunade, Shikamaru Nara is a Chunin."

"And my rival and I are happy to take the mission."

"Fantastic. Thank you Kakashi, Gai. Leave as soon as possible." Tsunade said, lifting her head off of the cool wood to massage her temples.

oOoOo

"So Kakashi, what's our youthful plan? Shall we make this into a challenge? Let's see who can collect the most Genin! I bet I can find all six of them!" Gai said giving his rival a gleaming smile that toothpaste companies would drool at with envy. He really didn't care for the mission that much. He just saw this as an opportunity to find Lee, bring him back, and challenge Kakashi.

"Actually, I thought we'd take the more practical approach and use ninken (ninja dogs) to trace their scent."

Well fine. If Kakashi wasn't going to accept the challenge, Gai wasn't going to make him, "Very well. Summon them then!"

Within a heartbeat a pack of highly trained, jounin leveled dogs appeared in front of the two men.

"Pakkun, Naruto is out on a mission and needs help."

"Why am not I surprised? That brat is always in trouble."

"This is different. Tsunade-sama has requested that we bring him and the rest of his team back. I only mentioned him, because you know his scent. We need you to track him and the rest of them down for us."

"Like Hell I know his scent! It's not hard to miss. It's like mixing expired milk with sweat socks and molded cheese." Pakkun's comment was followed by several barks of approval from the pack of dogs behind him.

"Good. Then finding them won't be too hard. Let's get moving."

"Woah wait a minute Kakashi. You don't really need all of us to find a few genins do you?" Cried one of the voices in the pack.

"Yeah! Just send out Pakkun! He's the leader!" Barked another.

The pack of ninken suddenly burst into a wild dispute over who would go with them.

"Alright. Calm down. Just stop it….." Kakashi's attempts to quiet the group were to no prevail.

"QUIET!" Gai's voice boomed through the town, leaving the pack whimpering, "Pakkun, you're with us. The rest of you are dismissed." And with that the hounds were gone in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi and Pakkun stared at the green clad man with huge eyes in shock.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S HEAD OUT!" the aforementioned man yelled youthfully, with the two petrified ninjas following closely behind.

oOoOo

Running through the trees, the trio kept a sharp out for any leaf clad ninja.

"We're getting close to someone. It smells like they were all here at some point but there are only two fresh scents currently, and one of them is unfamiliar.

"What are they doing?" Gai questioned, praying to God that

it was Lee, and he was okay.

"Neither of them are moving, I think."

"Ugh. Just great."

Not soon after, the three jounins appeared at what seemed like a fairly intense battle. Craters, rocks, and the pungent scent of excess chakra decorated the field. _"Oh God, please don't let this be Lee."_ Gai thought, walking through the rubble.

"Found something…Ugh- someone!" Kakashi's voice rang through Gai's ears, and within a couple minutes, Gai found himself staring at Kakashi's findings.

"I don't think I know this kid. What does his dog tag say?"

**(A/N: I know they don't wear dog tags, but technically the original use for them was to identify soldiers, so that's what I'm going to do.)**

"Choji Akimichi…. Isn't he the fat one on Asuma's team?" Kakashi questioned, not taking his eyes off the barely breathing boy.

"Clearly not." Gai stated bluntly.

"I found something." Said Pakkun, with his teeth holding up an empty container.

"Akimichi Pills. Warning: Do not consume red pill unless in dire situations," Gai said, reading the label of the container, "Well I guess we know what happened. Any thoughts Kakashi?"

"Hmmm. Well, he's still breathing, which is good, but he's burning fat and converting it into chakra pretty quickly. He probably won't make it much longer without treatment."

"Why don't you take him back to Konoha Hospital, and alert Lady Tsunade. If this is just one of the genin, I'm afraid of what the other's conditions will be," Gai was emotionless on the outside, but a nervous wreck on the inside. _"Lee, please be okay."_

"Sounds like a good idea. Pakkun, you stay with Gai and find the rest of the team."

"Yes sir."

After confirming the new plan, Kakashi lifted Choji onto his back and leapt back into the trees towards Konoha. Meanwhile Gai and Pakkun continued the mission.

oOoOo

The two jonins didn't have to travel for more than ten minutes before Pakkun found another scent.

"Woah," the ninken said, caught off guard by the pungent stench.

"Did you find something?" Gai was mentally panicking, hoping his prized pupil was out of harm's way.

"Yeah. Blood. Lots of blood, almost directly under us," Pakkun stated with a grim look.

Gai gave him a slight nod, and they both made a quick descent to the ground. The sight resembled a scene of horror movie. Spider webs, arrows, kunai, and blood covered the land. "_Dear God, please don't let this be Lee. Nothing could possibly be worse than seeing Lee like this."_ To Gai's dismay, it wasn't Lee who was stuck in the middle of this horror scene… it was Neji. He was wrong there was something worse than seeing Lee, it was seeing Neji.

Gai dropped to his knees and attempted to take in the setting that lay out in front of him. Neji was slumped on the ground, covered in blood, fresh blood, seeping through his shirt. "_This is bad."_ He wasn't moving. _"This is really bad."_ Neji's sensei carefully approached the genin, taking in the extent of his wounds, being careful not to make them worse. _"He's still breathing, barely. Thank God. Keep fighting Neji, you can do this…"_ Gai's gaze wandered to the body that lay across from his student. _"Dead. Atta-boy Neji."_ Taking out his medical supplies, Gai yelled for Pakkun. He very gently rolled his injured student onto his back, and removed his ruined shirt. Neji grimaced when Gai applied some medicine to clean his wounds. _"Come on Neji, stay with me. Remember, you're a fighter."_ He yelled for Pakkun again when he didn't show up. Gai applied pressure to his student's injuries and skillfully applied bandages to his lower torso, only to have the blood seep through the thick layers of white cotton.

"Gai- Oh no," Pakkun's sentence was abruptly ended by the sight of the poor Hyuga boy, "Is that…"

"Neji… Neji Hyuga. He's my student, and my responsibility…And I found him like this. First Lee, now him." Gai was quick to stop the tears that were forming in his eyes. _"Maybe I wasn't meant to teach."_

"I see. What's his current condition?"

"It looks like he was hit by an arrow twice, through and through, as well as several kunai to the back, and a nasty looking cut on his arm and face. They're all pretty deep, and he's lost quite a lot of blood, as you can probably tell. Blood has started to dry, so he's probably been out here for a while, which means his wounds have most likely become infected… He needs immediate medical attention," Gai was grim with his answer, as he continued to administer bandages to his student.

"What do you suggest? We'll have to get him to the hospital as soon as possible, but we can't abort the mission."

"_He's right…"_ Gai was silent for a second, applying pressure to a particularly gruesome wound to Neji's shoulder. He opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by the Hyuga, coughing up blood. _"No, Neji, stay with me. Stay strong. Fight through this"_ Gai begun wrapping up Neji's shoulder, "I suppose you should continue on with me. I'll take Neji back to the hospital. Kakashi is probably on his way back out to catch up with us. If I run into him, I'll point him in the right direction."

"Very well. I hope you get him back in time." Pakkun gestured to the boy lying between him and Gai, and took off forwards.

"_Me too."_

Gai directed his attention back to the boy on the ground. He was clearly in pain. His face was printed with a permanent grimace on his pale face. Gai quickly applied the rest of his bandages, trying to be as careful as possible. Then, he took off his shinobi vest and lightly place it around Neji, hoping that it's weight would keep pressure on the Hyuga's ever bleeding wounds. Following that, Gai was cautious to pick up his student with extreme delicacy, but even so, Neji's grimace grew stronger, accompanied by soft groan of discomfort.

"Sshh… I know Neji, it hurts. Just stay with me. Don't give up, not now. You're a fighter, you can do this."

He knew the boy wasn't going to respond, but he still felt a bit more discomfort when the Hyuga didn't reply. With nothing else to say, Gai took off into the trees, caring Neji bridal style, because he was too afraid that caring him on his back would only put Neji in more pain. Every few minutes, when Gai would drop fairly roughly onto a branch and push off again, the Hyuga prodigy would let out a few moans of pain, and occasionally cough up a bit more blood, followed by a slight hiccup.

Although he was unbelievably worried for his pupil, he couldn't help but notice how surprisingly childish the normally mature boy sounded. His whimpers resembled that of a kid wiping his tears after falling in the playground, and his face crumpled together like a little boy who dropped his ice cream cone. It was a bit amusing to his sensei, and helped keep his spirits high.

Shortly after passing by Choji's battlefield, Gai found Kakashi right under him.

"Kakashi!"

The Copy Cat Ninja looked up to see his rival descending to his level, caring someone in his arms, "Gai, is that..." he couldn't bring himself to complete the question.

"Yeah," Gai was clearly distraught, "He needs medical attention immediately. Where are the medical chords?"

"Tsunade-sama said she would send them out shortly after I left. Where's Pakkun?"

"I told him to go on with the mission, but I'd send you his way."

After a short conversation on the second change of plans, the two jonin came to a conclusion, "Alright, I'll drop Neji off, and make my way back to you and Pakkun," Gai said. It wasn't what he wanted, but he knew he couldn't just leave a mission.

Sensing his friend's trouble, Kakashi offered him some words, "Gai. Stay with him. If he was Naruto or Sasuke and I was in your shoes, I'd want to stay with them."

Gai gave the other man a slight smile of gratitude, "Thank-you Kakashi. It means a lot. Good luck."

"You too" Kakashi meant it more for Neji, than for Gai.

Not wasting any time, Gai flew off towards Konoha.

oOoOo

Upon approaching the front gates of his village, Gai gave the leaf's secret signal to tell the shinobi on the other side to open the gates. He zoomed in, not taking time to debrief himself, and ran towards the hospital.

When he arrived, the receptionist took one look at the bloodied mess in his arms and requested for a group of emergency medics to report to the front desk. In no time at all, five medics had arrived, rolling in a gurney. Gai hesitantly placed his poor student onto the rolling bed, not wanting to let him out of his sight. He chased the group into an ER prep room, watching them diligently cut off the blood soaked bandages and clean off the wounds again. They shouted words back and forth, confident in what they were saying, but to Gai, it might as well have been another language. Bloody gloves and bandages were everywhere; machines were beeping uncontrollably, and medics passed various items across to each other. Gai couldn't believe the organized entropy that filled the small room, all of it surrounding his Neji. The sensei could tell that Neji was in an unbelievable amount of pain. He cringed when a medic touched his injured shoulder, and when any amount of pressure was applied, he coughed up blood, which was almost immediately cleaned up.

"Out of the way! Unless you're a medic I don't want you in here! You four, get to OR #7 and prep it for the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique! Get a move on, this kid is dying; we need him surgery as soon as possible!" Shizune came storming into the room, barking commands. She went straight to the bed Neji was laying on and started pumping chakra into his body. The Hyuga gave out a pained yell, and slowly opened his lilac, pupil-less eyes. He let out a strained cough and listened dazedly to Shizune's voice. "Sweetie, can you tell me your name? How old are you? Who's your Sensei?" Neji was able to answer all questions thrown at him perfectly, though undoubtedly strained. His voice was raggedy, barely above a whisper, and was continuously interrupted by his constant coughs and wheezes.

"Very good. Alright, Neji, we're about to take you into surgery okay? I need you to take a deep breath and count backwards from ten," Shizune brought a mask up to Neji's mouth and pushed a few buttons on a nearby machine.

"T-Ten…N-n-ni-nine…Ei-Eight…S-s-s-sev…." Neji was unconscious within a few seconds.

"Okay, he's under. Let's get him into the OR."

The medics rolled the drowsy Hyuga out of the room and down the hallway. Gai stood in dismay, watching his student role off into surgery, fighting for his life. "Shizune," he managed to catch her before she could catch up to the gurney, "what….what are his chances…?"

She gave him a sympathetic smile, "We're not sure, but we'll try our very best," and followed behind the group of medics around the corner.

"_In other words, slim to none… But Neji can do it. He's a fighter. He can beat the odds."_

oOoOo

Two hours.

Two hours, twenty-three minutes, and forty -three seconds.

That's how long Gai sat outside OR #7 before Lee came bounding through the hallway, perfectly fine, except for some minor scrapes and cuts. _"Lee! Oh thank God he's okay."_

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"Lee!" The man was clearly more relieved than jubilant.

"GAI-SENSEI? WHY ARE YOU NOT BEING YOUR EVER SO YOUTHFUL SELF?"

"Shh. Lee, this is a hospital. Keep your voice down. Where have you been? You had everyone worried sick!" It hurt him to have to smother the burning flames of youth out of Lee, but it seemed right, for Neji's sake. But, he also couldn't help but be happy for Lee's safe return, "I'm sorry Lee…I'm just so glad to see you healthy, and unharmed! But really, where were you? Showing some sound ninja who's boss I presume!" He tried to show more interest to suppress his worried thoughts for the youngest member of his team. **(A/N: Neji, btw, is the youngest on his team. Just so we're clear. Go check narutopedia if you don't believe me)**

"Yosh! I was undefeatable Gai-Sensei! But Sensei, why are you here of all places?"

So it was true, Lee didn't know about his teammate, "Where's Tenten? Go get her and I'll tell you."

"Yes Gai-Sensei! Do you wish to see Neji too? Though, I don't think he's returned yet. We can probably wait for him-"

"No, that's not necessary Lee, just get Tenten" Gai said, biting his lower lip.

Lee took off out the door, but it wasn't long until he returned with Tenten walking in calmly behind him.

"What's so important Sensei?" Questioned the flower of the team

"It's…It's about Neji."

Tenten could already tell where this was going, "How bad is he?" Her expression had obviously transitioned from calm and chipper, to solemn.

"The medics are doing their best. They're not sure if he'll –make it." He said choking on the last two words.

Tenten just shook her head, eyes wet with fresh tears. She buried her face in her sensei's open hug. "Sshh, Tenten. Neji wouldn't want you crying over him. After all he's not gonna give up, that's why we call him a fighter, so why should you?" Gai offered her some comfort and looked down at the girl that was staring back at him, her cheeks red, not only with her sadness, but with blood. Neji's blood. It was then that Gai realized he was still wearing the same clothes he arrived in. The clothes that was soaked with _his_ blood. "Tenten, why don't you go clean yourself up. Lee you stay with her. I need to go get myself cleaned up. I'll be back in half an hour, guaranteed."

He left his students in his former spot at the hospital and quickly went home to get changed. He washed off his hands and arms that seemed dyed red and placed the bloody clothes in the sink full of peroxide. **(A/N: Hydrogen Peroxide is perfect for getting blood out of clothes.) **He left the house 10 minutes later, ready to return to his genin when he saw a little Hyuga child wandering around town with her mum. _"Lord Hiashi has no clue what happened…"_ With that thought in mind, Gai made his way to Hyuga compound and knocked on the door.

"Yes?" A Branch member answered.

"Is Lord Hiashi in? It's very important"

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to visit him, but I can take a message for you"

"It's about Neji, his nephew"

That seemed to catch the Hyuga's attention, "Oh, yes, one second please."

Within a minute, Lord Hyuga was at the door, "What's wrong with Neji," It was more of a statement than a question.

"He's injured. Critically. He's in surgery right now, but his chances are grim. I just thought you had a right to know."

Lord Hyuga's facial expression remained impassive, but Gai could tell by the way his eyes lost contact with the Green Beast that he was really concerned for his nephew, "Yes. Thank-you." Without any other words, Lord Hyuga closed the door on Gai.

oOoOo

One hour later, Gai was again by himself in the waiting room. He sent Lee and Tenten to go get lunch. He didn't want them to be as worried as he was. Not soon after they left, Kakashi came through. "Thought I'd find you here. How's he doing?"

"They're trying their best. No significant changes within the past hour though. Did you find the rest of the team?"

"Yeah. It wasn't too hard once I caught up to Pakkun. The rest are fairly uninjured compared to Choji and Neji."

"_Choji. I nearly forgot."_ "How is Choji?"

"Tsunade says she managed to reverse the effects of the pills. He'll just be a bit weak for the next few days."

"And the rest?"

"Kiba got a deep stab wound to his stomach. He luckily missed everything important, but he'll need to stay here for a few days. Shikamaru is fine, broken finger I believe. So is Lee, but I think you already knew that. Naruto is hurt, but nothing life threatening. He's practically healed himself, you know with the…_thing_, in him. He'll probably be up and about by tomorrow." Kakashi was careful not to mention what was hidden in Naruto's body. Although Gai was well aware, most non-shinobi didn't understand that Naruto himself was harmless.

"Thank God…. And Sasuke?"

Kakashi just closed his eyes nonchalantly and shook his head no.

"I see. I'm sorry Kakashi. I knew what he meant to you."

"It's fine. I wasn't expecting much success. I just hope he makes the smart decisions in his life."

The two fell silent for a while, conveniently Lord Hiashi walked in during this time.

"Is he still in surgery?" He asked, not his usual demanding self.

"I'm afraid so. It's been nearly four and a half hours."

"I was hoping that they would be finished by now."

The three men sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

13 minutes and 57 seconds later, the red light above ER #7 went out. All three men turned their attention towards the door, waiting for the news. Shizune popped out of the room, obviously exhausted, "He's going to be okay." She gave the three men a relieved smile, "Lord Hiashi, will you come with me?" The Hyuga followed her into the room. Gai wasn't upset. It was hospital protocol. If someone is critical condition, the only people allowed to visit him are family members.

Gai was unbelievably relieved. _"He was okay. He's fine. Neji's is alive."_

"Gai?" Kakashi called his name

"Hm? Yes?"

"You seem…not yourself. I would've thought that you'd be scalding Shizune for even thinking Neji would be anything less than okay. I've never seen you this sullen before. You weren't like this with Lee… What's wrong?" Kakashi was legitimately concerned for his friend.

"It's just…you didn't have to hold him. You didn't have to see him dying in your arms. I've never felt so useless to him before then. All I could do was get him to the hospital while he withered in pain. He could've _died in my arms_." He looked up to his rival, daring tears to roll down his face.

Kakashi took one good look at him, "But, _he didn't._"

oOoOo

The next morning, medics allowed for other visitors, although Neji was still admitted to the ICU. Lee and Tenten visited earlier that day, but said he was still asleep. Gai wasn't shocked. The medics said he was exhausted, and the heavy duty pain killers he was on were no doubt, making him drowsy. Gai walked into the room, small, and secluded. He saw the machines that littered the room, _"Heart monitor, Oxygen ventilator, hmmm…not sure what these are for,"_ as well as the multiple IV bags, "_water, nutrients, morphine,…blood."_ And in the middle of it all was Neji Hyuga. Sleeping peacefully, with his head nestled on his right shoulder, the oxygen mask resting awkwardly between his collar bone and the pillow. As he predicted, Neji's left shoulder was heavily bandagedand held in place with a light blue sling. He shattered his color bone, as well as torn quite a few muscles and tendons in that arm/shoulder. Tsunade told Gai that he'd be wearing that sling for a month or two. There was simply too much damage to be repaired, and chakra wasn't going to be able to fix it all. As for the two arrow piercings, although mostly restored, his side and shoulder were going to be hurting him like hell. All in all, Neji was likely to be alive. Doctors said he'd lost too much blood when they brought him in; they weren't sure how he could possibly still be living. But Gai chose to count his lucky stars that his student was okay, than fret on the minor details.

Gai crept over to the chair next to Neji's side. "You scared me, Neji. Thought I lost you for a while. But you showed me didn't you? Yeah…that's because you're a fighter, even when the odds are against you…you're a fighter."

Neji cracked open his eyes slightly, just enough for his Sensei to notice, and gave him a one of Neji's famous smirks.

"_Yeah… You're a fighter…"_

**Sooo….how was that? Remember to review! Oh and just so we're clear, this was a Neji/Gai centric, but they were IN NO WAY meant to be taken sexually or any way else you can think of other than a teacher concerned for the well-being of his student. I don't do those sick fanfics about teachers blowing their students all while they're on a secret mission, or whatever the hell some peoples fucked up minds think of.**


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